Guitar/Chord Reference

Open Chords

Open chords tend to sound "richer" than corresponding barre chords due to the fact that open strings resonate freely without any hindrance. An open chord is any chord that has one or more strings sounded without being fretted. Guitarists tend to use this name to refer to the chords that contain open strings that are played in the first position (first four frets).

Open Major Chords

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  A major

• 

  C major

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  D major

• 

  E major

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  F major

• 

  G major

Open Minor Chords

• 

  A minor

• 

  D minor

• 

  E minor

Barre Chords

• 

  B major

• 

  B minor

• 

  F major

• 

  F minor

Open Seventh Chords

• 

  D7

• 

  G7

• 

  A7

• 

  C7

Chords in C major

• 

  C major

• 

  D minor

• 

  E minor

• 

  F major

• 

  G major

• 

  A minor

• 

  B halfdim7

Note that the chords in the key of C major consists of 3 major chords, 3 minor chords and 1 diminished chord. This holds true for all major keys.